AstraZeneca reveals cutback details

This week has seen AstraZeneca make good on previously-announced plans to cuts as many as 8000 jobs worldwide by confirming the closure of a plant in Leicestershire, UK. The move, which comes as part of an ambitious restructuring of the firm's R&D efforts, also includes withdrawal from research in as many as 10 disease areas.

The British-Swedish firm first announced plans to make cuts at the beginning of February in what was described as "one of the biggest shake-ups in the [pharmaceutical] industry's history." Now, it seems, the radical plans are underway.

According to reports from earlier this week, AstraZeneca says that while it will continue to invest in "R&D in all of [our] current therapy areas" - namely cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, oncology, respiratory, inflammation, neuroscience and infection - "within those areas, [we] will cease discovery efforts in thrombosis, acid reflux, ovarian and bladder cancers, systemic scleroderma, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety hepatitis C and vaccines other than respiratory syncytial virus and influenza."

Time for change

The changes, say the firm, will also inevitably bring about the closure of the some of AstraZeneca's major R&D centres around the globe. There are currently 17 in all.

The first closure, in Charnwood in Leicestershire, will see the loss of 1200 jobs and will be followed by the closure of smaller facility in Cambridge. Across the rest of the UK, pharmaceutical development work at the Avlon facility near Bristol will also cease, while the number of people working in R&D at Alderley Park - the firm's largest UK facility - will increase as employees transfer from other sites.

Elsewhere, in Sweden, the first site to go will be a research site in Lund, while it has been confirmed that early-stage discovery work will also be halted at the firm's facility in Wilmington, USA.

Speaking about the changes, head of development Anders Ekblom said, "We have made real strides in improving our efficiency in recent years, but there is a continuing need to adapt our organisation in anticipation of future challenges."

Ekblom added that the changes, "will help us create a more focused, innovative and productive company."

Matthew Buttell

Matt Buttell graduated from Bath Spa University in 2006. Since then he has written for several publications, before moving to the web. He now writes solely for the internet, continuing to cover key business issues while managing his own personal blog.

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